Agenda 04/27/2010 Item #16D16
Agenda Item No. 16016
April 27, 2010
Page 2 of 5
COLLIER COUNTY
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Item Number:
Item Summary:
16016
Recommendation to approve and authorize Collier Countys request that the U,S, Navy put
the USS George Philip on Donation Hold for Collier County for deployment as an artificial
reef and to authorize the Chairman to execute a letter of support,
4/27/20109:00:00 AM
Meeting Date:
Approved By
Kathy Carpenter
Executive Secretary
Date
Public Services
Public Services Admin.
4/19/201011:42 AM
Approved By
Gary McAlpin
Director - Coastal Management
Programs
Date
Public Services Division
Coastal Zone Management
4/19/201011:46 AM
Approved By
Marla Ramsey
Administrator - Public Services
Date
Public Services Division
Public Services Division
4/19/201012:10 PM
Approved By
Colleen Greene
Assistant County Attorney
Date
County Attorney
County Attorney
4/20/2010 1 :34 PM
Approved By
OMS Coordinator
Date
County Manager's Office
Office of Management & Budget
4/20/20103:07 PM
Approved By
Jeff Klatzkow
County Attorney
Date
4/20/20103:28 PM
Approved By
Leo E, Ochs, Jr.
County Manager
Date
County Managers Office
County Managers Office
4/20/20104:07 PM
Agenda Item No. 16016
April 27, 2010
Page 3 of 5
Dear Pamela,
Mike Taworski phoned me this evening with the news that you are going to Washington, DC as
part of the effort to reef the USS GEORGE PHILIP. I think it's wonderful that you're going to do
this, and of course I wish you all the luck and success possible in bringing this project to fruition.
Let me give you some of my family's history which might help explain why my brother, George
Philip III USMC (Retired), and I are so whole-heartedly behind the idea of the PHILIP's
becoming a reef.
We are descendants of one of the US Navy's oldest families. Our great-grandfather, Edward
Taussig, was a member of the United States Naval Academy's class of 1867. A destroyer was
named for him, the USS TAUSSIG. His son, our grandfather, Joseph Knefler Taussig, Sr., was
USNA class of 1899. By 1901, he had seen action in the Spanish-American War, the Philippine
Insurrection, and the Boxer Rebellion. A destroyer escort was named for him, the USS JOSEPH
K. TAUSSIG. George's and my father, George Philip, Jr., was a 1935 graduate of the Naval
Academy and married our mother, Margaret Taussig, in 1939. They were together at Pearl
Harbor when it was bombed on December 7, 1941. My father saw continuous action in the
Pacific aboard three destroyers until he died when his own ship, the USS TWIGGS, was sunk in
a kamikaze attack on June 16, 1945 --late in the Battle for Okinawa. Before that, his uncle, John
Waldron (USNA '24), led Torpedo Squadron 8 off the HORNET at the Battle of Midway in
1942, and died along with all but one of his squadron mates. The following year, my father's
younger brother, Robert Philip, a Marine Corps pilot, was killed in the Pacific. My brother was
graduated from the Aademy one hundred years after our great-grandfather. He served two tours
in Viet Nam, and, mercifully, survived. A destroyer was named for John Waldron, and both he
and my father were posthumously awarded the Navy Cross -- as was our uncle, Joseph Taussig,
Jr., who was wounded during the Pearl Harbor attack. In short, ours is an American family with a
tradition more than a hundred years old of having served and sometimes died in wars.
When I christened the USS GEORGE PHILIP in 1978, I hoped that she would have a long and
distinguished career. In fact, she did; and her history is documented in Navy archives. My
favorite story about her involves a coincidence of dates. My mother's and brother's birthday is
September 11. In 2002, a directive went out to all the ships in the fleet that as of September 11,
they were to fly the Old Navy Jack until the War on Terrorism is won. The PHILIP, moored on
the far side of the International Date Line off the coast of Cairns, Australia, was the very first
ship in the entire US Navy to run up the jack -- on the date of George Philip's wife's and son's
birthday, I love it!
When I spoke at the ship's decommissioning ceremony in 2003, my hope was that she would
someday become an artificial reef. My father lies in an ummarked grave off the coast of
Okinawa. His brother and uncle also rest somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. What better fate could
this ship have than to commemorate the dead by becoming a site for new life?
Sincerely, and hopefully, yours,
Snow Philip
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Dear Pamela,
My sister, Snow Philip, forwarded to me the email she sent you regarding our
enthusiasm regarding your efforts to reefthe GEORGE PHILIP off the Florida
coast. I see that she included some family background as well. I would like
to add something which I send to you in the spirit of 'anything might help',
Please feel free to use the below information anyway you see fit or not use
it at all if you don't deem it appropriate, It may possibly be something to
bring up in an informal conversation with your congressional representative
when you visit Washington,DC.
In 2004 Mrs. Elizabeth Kauffman Bush wrote a book about her brother, Draper
Kauffman, entitled "America's First Frogman". Elizabeth is married to
Prescott Bush, the brother of former president George H.W. Bush. In fact,
President Bush wrote the forward for his sister-in-Iaw's book. Draper
Kauffman is considered the father of the Navy's Underwater Demolition Teams
which later became the SEALs. He is featured prominently in the UDT/SEAL
Museum at Ft.Pierce, Florida. Draper Kauffman was also a friend of my father
(dating back to their days at the Naval Academy) and that is where this
short tale, detailed in Mrs.Bush's book, begins.
At the beginning of the Iwo Jima campaign during WWII Draper Kauffman was
assigned the job of collecting intelligence regarding beach conditions and
possible obstacles to landing craft around Iwo. He and his radioman were
embarked on an LCI, a type of landing craft. Overwatching their movements
was my father's ship, the USS TWIGGS. Kauffman's LCI came under enemy fire
and his radioman was killed but Kauffman was able to get the damaged craft
back to the TWIGGS, thus saving his own life as well as that of the wounded
LCI coxwain. In a short note to me last year Mrs. Bush stated, "Thank God
for your father and the USS TWIGGS!" (for saving her brother's life)
So as you can see, there is a thin thread connecting the Bushes to my father
and of course there are the Bush connections to your great state.
Sincerely,
George Philip
LtCol USMC (ret)
Agenda Item No. 16016
April 27, 2010
Page 5 of 5